Editing: The Post Production Process

As I wanted to render the work area and save as an ".avi" file each time we made an edit, for personal viewing only, I made notes on each edit we had completed. I do not, unfortunately, have the 2nd edit, so was unable to make notes on that edit.

Shadows Edit 1: This was the first edit that I had saved as movie (.avi) file. It consisted of experimental shots and lacks any voiceovers. We used "Mausam & Escape" (by A. R. Rahman) as the music, which gave a more heavy & Eastern (Indian) feel to the movie. It did not contain the discussion between the two key characters near to the end of the opening sequence.

Shadows Edit 3: This time around the voices and discussions have been captured for the end of the sequence, yet this edit is lacking the on-screen action whilst the discussions are underway, and also lacks my voiceovers within the first minute of the opening sequence. We still used the same piece of music.

Shadows Edit 3.1: This was probably the first of the edits to have titles included and full footage and sound used. We had re-recorded the sound for the battle between the two characters at the climax of the sequence, because even though I thought the sound was okay, my fellow group members Josh, Emily, and Chloe complained that the groans and struggles sounded too comedic, and didn't really emphasise the killing of one of the characters at the end of the opening sequence.

Me and Emily recorded sound effects for use in the sequence. The "zip" sound, when I am unzipping my jacket, and the click of the light switch when I have sat down (both interior shots).

Shadows Edit 4: After a short discussion with our lecturer, "Shadows Present: Edit 3" seemed like more of a trailer for a film rather than an opening sequence, mainly because of the pace of the cuts between shots and the rhythm of the music. Adding "Clues" as the music (by Jan Hammer), a much slower and more mysterious rhythm, we found that the pace was consequently slowed down a lot, and edited the footage with the music rather than around the music.

Shadows Edit 5 NOIR: The idea came to me, one night (in bed), that if we have the interior shots first rather than during/after the exterior shots, the pace of the sequence can subsequently be reduced. It also seemed like the perfect idea because we would be introducing my character and then have the exterior shots as a flashback from the photographs taken from the package on the interior shots.

We used bells at the beginning of the sequence to set the mood and tone of the sequence to follow, after I found a sound effects website one night. We had tried to use bells that we had recorded from a nearby church in Alexandra Park, but the volume was too low and therefore we had to find other methods of adding church bells to the sequence.

The last shot, of the package in the hand laid flat on the ground (from the dead person) contained a piece of paper with the name of the movie written on it. We had created this through the use of a white-board marker. First, the camera tracked-out and then the viewer is forced into a position where they watch a shadow pass over the hand and package and title. This was the first time it had been used, and in my opinion it looked great and our lecturer even agreed that it was creative, yet he insisted that proper titles would be better.

Upon screening to our lecturer for more advice on what we should do next, he praised our work as being more suitable and more accurate to the task set, for the project to be the opening sequence to a Film Noir Thriller, and not a trailer for a film. He did say, however, that more improvements could be made to the cuts between different shots and between different sounds used. This is the main reason behind why I called it "Shadows Present Edit 5 NOIR".

Shadows Edit 6 NOIR: As I wasn't available for this edit, Josh and Chloe used a different typeface/font, more in the style of typewriters, and taking the advice of our lecturer, Josh and Chloe had opted out of the use of the track-out and "watch the shadow pass over the hand and package" shot.

Shadows Present (The Final Edit): The final edit was made when I was unfortunately ill, and the project was given its first screening to all students in our lecture that morning, Wednesday 1st April 2009. Apparently the feedback received was positive, with one or two "touches" that should be made to the sound cuts. Even though I have watched it in my own personal time at home, thinking that it is okay so far, I still think that the supposed "final edit" needed a lot doing to it. This was the last week of College before the 2009 Easter Holiday break, and we were allowed the chance to polish up our sequence after Easter based on our feedback, then this would be the final edit and is what we would be submittng.

Shadows Present - The Final Edit: This was completed on the Wednesday after Easter (22nd April). From looking at our feedback, it was apparent that we needed to polish up on the sound cuts and, in my view, some of the cuts between different shots.